The Indianapolis Colts were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday thanks to the Houston Texans‘ 20-16 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. It is a stunning result when you consider where the Colts were just a couple of months ago.
Colts join undesirable club with playoff elimination
The Colts became just the sixth team in the Super Bowl era to miss the playoffs after starting a season with a record of 8-2 or better.
The previous five teams were the 1995 Oakland Raiders, the 1993 Miami Dolphins, the 1987 San Diego Chargers, the 1976 St. Louis Cardinals and the 1976 Cincinnati Bengals.
The Colts were one of the biggest surprises in the NFL through their first 10 games, winning eight of them, looking like a team that was going to not only run away with the AFC South but also perhaps contend for the No. 1 spot and home-field advantage in the AFC.
They were in such contention that they traded their next two first-round picks to the New York Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner in a win-now move.
Things did not play out the way they had hoped.